Extremely Quick Tour of Boston
 

We are flying into Boston in a few weeks (noon arrival), and friends suggested taking a water taxi from the airport to downtown, having lunch there, then getting a trolley tour around town for an hour or two. Then we could rent a car downtown and drive out to Springfield,MA, where we need to be by the end of the day (for a family event).
Questions:
Is the Museum of Fine Arts downtown or in an easy-to-get-to area where we could drive on our way out of town?
What casual seafood restaurant would you recommend downtown?
What about the "Duck tour"...anybody ever go on that one?

We are looking to spend about 4 hours doing this and have been to Boston many times growing up and in the college years (but not been back in the past 25 years!)
Your suggestions appreciated...

Will this be on a weekday or a weekend?

Personally, I think it'll be faster if you take a regular taxi instead of a water taxi. To get to the water taxi pier, you have to take a shuttle bus from the airport terminal.

With 4 hours, there's not enough time to
1) eat lunch
2) do the Duck tour
3) visit the MFA

My suggestion would be:
Get a regular taxi from Logan airport and head to Copley Square. Eat lunch at Legal Seafoods inside the Copley Mall (there's one in Prudential Center too but the Copley location is less busy). OR eat lunch at Turner Fisheries at Copley Mall.

Then take the Duck Tour which departs FROM Prudential Center (but you SHOULD purchase your ticket in advance as they DO sell out). After your tour, pick up your rental car and drive out to Springfield. There are plenty of car rental locations right in Copley Sq/Prudential Center to choose from.

What time do you need to be IN Springfield? Traffic heading out of the city on MassPike is very heavy at rush hour (4:30-6'ish), worse on Fridays. If you're here on a weekday, make sure you give yourself extra time.

Very helpful info,yk. We are going mid-week so that should help a little.

Alternatively if you prefer art or don't want to take a chance on a wet duck tour (raining!) then take a taxi direct to the MFA. It's 'in town' and a short walk or subway ride from the Prudential Center.
Eat lunch in one of the cafes/ restaurants at the MFA or head to legal seafoods as yk suggested.

http://www.mfa.org/visit/dining

Have you priced the cost of renting a car at the airport vs. in town? Just asking because if it was cheaper to rent and return at the airport, you could always pick up the car there and either go to the Prudential for lunch and the Duck Tour as yk suggests or go straight to the museum as sassy_cat suggests.

You'll have to pay for parking, of course, and figure out which way is most convenient and cost effective.

Parking at the Pru is probably less expensive than at the Museum, by the way, unless you get lucky and find a meter.

Another thing to consider: Will you have lots of luggage with you? What do you plan to do w/your luggage during the few hours of sightseeing in Boston?

Couple of thoughts:
1) The rental company in town may be willing to hold your luggage for a few hours until you pick up the car, or
2) Check out the rental car first and leave your luggage in the car trunk BUT not drive the car out until you're ready to leave for Springfield, or
3) Check with any of the hotels in Copley Sq area (eg, Westin, Sheraton, Hilton) and see if they will be willing to stow your luggage for a fee for a few hours

Duck Tours are great entertaining way to see much of the city quickly. Their guides are a blast.
If you are more of a history buff, the walking tours are a great way to see and learn about the city.
Bostonbyfoot.com has walking tours daily. Two tours that I have been on that give good solid and fun history are the BostonCivilwarTours.com and the Kennedytour.com All the walking tours are around 90 minutes. Most of the walking tours also end at Quincy Market and you can enjoy hanging out there.

If it's a nice day, I'd eat at Legal's Harborside at Liberty Wharf instead of Copley. There's a bunch of new restaurants at the Waterfront and the atmosphere is really nice.